Top 4 Homes of the Week With Impressive Backyards

Whether you have a small deck in the city or a massive pool in the suburbs, having a standout backyard can be a game changer for any modern dwelling. Take a peek at our favorite homes from this week that celebrate the outdoors with their impressive backyards.

Featured homes were submitted by members of the Dwell community through our feature,Add a Home. Add your home toDwell.com/homestoday.

From Leibal: "Because of the clients’ general aesthetic focus—on white, spare, minimalism—and their enthusiasm for treating interiors the same way the architects do, [the space was inspired by] galleries or museums where the main visual interest pops from the decor, the art, and the furniture. The architects explored how a house could operate similarly to a gallery, as a neutral canvas that's seamless, with spaces that flow from one end to the other—with a continuity of materials that favor fluid transitions over the sharp disconnects that are so often found in modernist projects."

From the architect: "The Toodyay Shack sits on a re-viewed and re-configured half-acre town site. The memory of the house is also re-viewed and re-configured. The climatic regression house plays with thresholds of what is internal and what is external. Sailing a boat and going camping metaphors are completely accurate in the way the house is activated and used, depending on the weather. The actualization of this manipulation included orientating the house according to the climate with a brick cave that has a timber fly roof."

From the architect: "Light, space, and spectacle define the design of this modern addition to a heritage home. The design is centered around a long, open-plan living space that is flooded with light from an elongated glazed roof section and operable angled skylights. A walkway is suspended in a double-height void over the kitchen, linking the existing structure to the master bedroom and creating a feeling of space and theater. A perforated mesh balustrade lines the walkway, allowing light to pass through and enabling a visual connection between the ground and first floor."

From Leibal: "This new, four-level house on a steep street in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood is designed to respond to opportunities presented by its site and situation. This included the morphology of a neighboring infill urban fabric, and possibilities of a walkout rear yard and distant views in the downhill direction to the east and north. The house’s interior is organized around a central light well and stairwell. The light well is positioned in relation to an existing light well in the neighboring house. Situated at the heart of the house, the light well and stairwell act together to bring in natural light and views to the sky."